Category: KOZHIKODE

Kozhikode District is a district of Kerala state, situated on the southwest coast of India. The city of Kozhikode, formerly known as Calicut, is the district headquarters.

Kozhikode district is bordered by the districts of Kannur and Mahe in Pondicherry state to the north, Wayanad to the east, and Malappuram to the south. The Arabian Sea lies to the west.

In 2001 the district was divided into four talukas: Kozhikode, Vadakara, Koyilandy and Thamarassery; however, by the 2011 census there are twelve block panchayats: Balusseri, Chelannur, Koduvally, Kozhikode, Kunnamangalam, Kunnummal, Melady, Panthalayani, Perambra, Thodannur, Tuneri, and Vatakara.

Administrative History

Present-day Kozhikode District was among the territories ceded to the British East India Company by Tipu Sultan of Mysore in 1792, at the conclusion of the Third Anglo-Mysore War. The newly acquired British possessions on the Malabar Coast were organized into Malabar District, which included present-day districts of Kannur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad, and Wayanad. Kozhikode served as the administrative headquarters of the district. Malabar District was part of the Madras Presidency, a province of British India.

After India’s Independence in 1947, Madras Presidency was renamed Madras State. When Madras state was divided along linguistic lines by the State Names Reorganisation Act, Malabar District was combined with the erstwhile state of Travancore-Cochin and Kasaragod District to form the state of Kerala on 1 November 1956.

Malabar District was considered too large for effective administration. It was divided into the districts of Kozhikode, Kannur, and Palakkad on 1 January 1957. The district had five taluks, Vadakara, Koyilandy, Kozhikode, Ernad, and Tirur. On 16 June 1969, Ernad and Tirur Taluks became part of the newly created Malappuram District. South Wayanad, which forms the southern portion of present-day Wayanad District, was added to Kozhikode for a time, but in 1980 became part of newly created Wayanad District.

Places of interest

The temples and mosques of this district contain sculptures and inscriptions which are of considerable interest to the students of art. Kozhikode city itself has many temples, the most important of which are the Tali Temple, Thiruvannur Temple, Azhakodi Temple, Sree Valayanad Temple, Varakkal Temple, Bilathikulam Temple, Bairagi Madam Temple, the Lokanarkavu Temple in Memunda near Vatakara, the Pisharikavu Temple in Kollam near Koyilandy, Sree Muthappan Payamkuty Mala in Memunda, The Sidda Samajam in Memunda, Sandbanks Vatakara.

There is an art gallery and Krishna Menon Museum located at East Hill in Kozhikode. Lalitha Kala Academy also has an art gallery adjacent to the Kozhikode town hall. The Indian Business Museum is also located in Kozhikode. There is a planetarium, situated in the heart of the city near Jaffer Khan Colony. Kozhikode Beach and Mananchira Square and the recently developed Sarovaram park are other popular gathering spots.

Thusharagiri Falls, a very beautiful Waterfall is about 55 km from Kozhikode Railway Station. Thusharagiri is served by a KTDC (Kerala Tourism Development Corporation) hotel.

Nadakkavu, this is heart of Kozhikode, situated just 10 km from the City, this area is famous for Automobile spare parts, you can get spare part of almost any kind of vehicles, residents here are mostly business people, doctors and middle-class people. The Regional Passport office, Regional Workshop KSRTC (Transport Corporation), Sales Tax Office are situated here.

“Kuttiyadi Dam” is one of the biggest and beautiful dams in Kerala.

“Kappad Beach” is the place where Vascodagama reached first time in India.

“Beypore Port” is another attraction of Kozhikode. It has a prominent place in the history of the Malabar Trade. It is the only place in kerala where “Uru”s(Arabian Trading Vessel) are made.